20 October, 2011

Calvert sent us this photo of a rather clever use for a VO handlebar to bottle cage mount. The photo explains it perfectly. I might add that with a VO or Nitto rack you could screw it to the light boss and eliminate the p-clamp. LED flashlights seem to be getting better and better and also cheaper. It might be time to finally resurrect the long discontinued VO flashlight mounts.

The LED flashlight choices out there are many & varied. This one is a Bell & Howell brand and came from Cargo Largo an unclaimed freight clearance store in Independence, Missouri.The primary concern is diameter. It should be roughly handle bar size--about an inch. A slightly larger flashlight may work w/longer screws.

sI use a plumbing P clamp from Home Depot on both sides of your constructeur rack, with little chrome flashlights I also purchased at home depot. Rechargeable AAA's make it cheap to run, and everything together is much cheaper than anything that looks half as nice. Compliments rain down constantly... not to ring my own brass bell...

I don't have a photo, but I did a variation on this. I clamped the handlebar mount onto a Minoura Besso mounted on the front fork leg. Then I clamped a 2AA Coleman LED flashlight to the handlebar mount using two of the clips that are used to attach water bottle cages to frames lacking braze-on mounts. I bent them a bit to get them to fit, and padded them with inner tube material wrapped around the light. If your flashlight is larger, you can use hose clamps (not as pretty, works fine). This setup is very rigid and secure, but allows adjustment of the beam direction in all axes (with tools). But do check for tightness, as a loose mount could put a flashlight in your spokes - not goood.Jon

Thanks for posting this. Been looking for a hack like this, which is much more elegant than the hardware store/ziptie melange I've been using.

With the plethora of battery-powered LED flashlights (rising in power and battery life and coming down in price), a high-quality flashlight mount would make a great addition to the VO line. Although maybe there's really no need to change the cage mount. Most of the plastic flashlight mounts out there are pretty flimsy and not designed for rack use.

One possible improvement would be a quick-release or wingnut to remove the flashlight easily when locking up outside.

Twofish makes an inexpensive flashlight holder. You can use on handlebar, light mount etc. Paul makes a nice (but $20) Gino light mount that attaches to any 5mm boss. I did not use Paul, but fashioned a similar mount using PVC. I would be interested in the VO holders if you did bring them back.

Doesn't it look highly probable that the flashlight will swing outwards and jam its back end in the spokes? Sure, it might catch on the fork first, but I'd be a little hesitant about posting this tip without acknowledging the likelihood of this scenario.

I say this mostly because of a miserably failed attempt at a fork mounted cable lock...

this looks like a great, inexpensive headlight solution. I second a flashlight specific rack and/or fork mount with a quick release. The flashlight could double for use during nighttime roadside repairs.

The 18650 flashlights are cheap compared to a hub-generator and bike specific light. And the better ones use high-end LEDs and put out a comparable amount of light, i.e. light that truly illuminates the roadway. I'd love to have a generator, but will probably be making do with flashlights and batteries for a while. The good thing is that the technology keeps catching up. I also like that a flashlight could be removed from a bike and help with a repair, pitch the tent, or live another useful life off the bike.

I took my family camping recently and we brought along a new generic 12 LED mini flashlight. Something I noticed was that the light is more white, created even illumination and faded off at the edges nicely. Contrasted, the old maglite created a tunnel of light that contrasted sharply with the darkness, limiting our field of vision.

I feel like the LED provided a type of "moonlight" that was more useful, and easier on the eyes than a focused beam.

i'd love to see V-O mounts for flashlights. i think its genius to use a flashlight...... park the bike and take the flashlight with you. btw.... where did the flashlights in the picture come from and does anybody know where to get high quality, vintage style flashlights from?